Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is a world-class player in the midst of his best individual season. He's an NBA champion, a four-time All-NBA honoree certain to receive a fifth nod in 2024-25, and has already won two Olympic gold medals.
If the Celtics are going to turn the series around against the New York Knicks, however, then they're going to need to talk to Tatum about the tendencies that are costing his team wins.
Tatum entered the Knicks series riding a remarkable wave of momentum. He scored at least 35 points in each of the final three games during the first-round win over the Orlando Magic, recording 14 rebounds in Game 4 and 10 assists in Game 5 for good measure.
Unfortunately, Tatum appears to have left his magic in Orlando, and is now systematically checking the boxes on his critics' list of his shortcomings.
Tatum opened the series against the Knicks by shooting 7-of-23 from the field and 4-of-15 from beyond the arc during a 108-105 overtime loss. Unfortunately, it didn't get any better in Game 2, as Tatum shot a mere 5-of-19 from the floor and 1-of-5 from distance.
That would be concerning enough, but it's the way that Tatum is faltering that should have Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla preparing for an uncomfortable conversation about physicality and exploiting mismatches.
Jayson Tatum faltering against physicality, failing to exploit mismatches
Through two games, Tatum is shooting 1-of-7 when he's been defended by OG Anunoby. That aligns uncomfortably well with the fact that he went an immaculately awful 0-of-7 when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was the primary defender in the first round.
Tatum has also converted just three of his 10 shot attempts when matched up against Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns. That, again, mirrors the first-round struggles he experienced when he shot 6-of-20 against Magic center Wendell Carter Jr.—good for an identical field goal percentage of 30.0.
Tatum has also shot 0-of-5 against Josh Hart, 2-of-7 against Mitchell Robinson, and an underwhelming 4-of-10 when defended by Jalen Brunson.
Statistics can be misleading, but in this case, they speak directly to Tatum's struggles. When matched up against players whose primary focus is physical perimeter defense, he's having trouble getting off the type of shots he's comfortable taking and converting.
To make matters worse, Tatum has struggled mightily against all three of the primary rim protectors he's encountered—thus reflecting his continued issue with scoring against players who use their physicality to disrupt his rhythm.
The most alarming development, however, is that even when Tatum has a matchup against a big or a smaller guard in space, he's settling for long jumpers. Eight of the 10 field goal attempts he's put up against Brunson, who stands at 6'2", have been from beyond the arc—much as he took 20 threes against Carter, Robinson, and Towns.
Tatum is still thriving in other areas of the game, including rebounding and his on-ball defense, but until he's willing to embrace physicality and exploit mistmatches as a scorer, the Celtics' potential will be limited.